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Trousers should stay up

Trousers should stay up. Who knows what part of my anatomy will need a sewing intervention next. It took me far too many years to develop successful interventions on my cleavage (or more specifically, how to cover it without strain lines - even tent dresses require alterations).

Ageing seems to be about parts of my body migrating south. I can now see exactly how fat ankles come about, and no doubt that is a joy in store for me once I sort out keeping trousers in the right place.

I think back five years, even three, and I don't recall walking down corridors hitching my trousers back above my belly. Or stopping in my office to hike my waistband back up to where it should live. There is no positive behaviour management system for my body, or not one I'm looking for right now. This is not a zone for discussing exercise. Or spanx. I'm not that kind of feminist.

So, I'm back in maths mode this afternoon, thinking about where the tension should best be in order to hold everything up. I was in a pair of Barb Pants adjusted to be a skinny fit. They want to hang around below my belly. Not straight away. Just following a period of activity, generally such that I have an audience just when hitching and hoisting becomes desirable for my personal comfort.

I could understand a living thing wanting to live below my belly. There is serious shelter and warmth under my belly these days. But trousers are not babies and they are not living and they don't have rights. They need to be altered to follow instructions.

So I started some research, with the idea that maybe I need flat fronted trousers and an elastic back (arrghhhhhhhhhhhhhh like all the old ladies wore when I was a child). This article deals with the gaping waistband at the back, presumably due to a sway back. I've done this on shop bought jeans before. I could do this again, but it's not what's causing the front issue.

Then I turned to the Curvy Sewing Collective, as that is the best resource for curvy sewing on the net. Jennifer has done a pull on pants pattern throwdown post that I studied like a doctor studies symptom charts. Jennifer does a high waist on her pull on pants. I climb off the bed to measure where my pants get to when they are where they should be. One inch above my belly button. I shall try two next time. It's not like anything is going to be tucked in.

I think there is something funny about the fit on my legs that might not be helping. I've done wrinkles diagnoses before on trousers, using resources like this one. It can leave one a little dizzy, and the more you look, the more wrinkles you find. I have the Palmer Pletsch guide to Fitting Pants. It shows me how to make the pants the old ladies wore when I was a kid.

I wonder what they are doing in RTW clothing that could give me less depressing clues. I found this tirade. That's nice that she doesn't find lycra useful. I think lycra is a fantastic product. So I look at NYDJ website and it's all about having the waistband higher and some fancy criss cross front action. I don't think I do $300 on trousers.... The Cashmerette Ames Jeans could be in my future. Maybe. There is a backlog of stashed fabric & patterns to respond to before I buy any new patterns.

I have another theory. If my knickers go hiding under my belly, my trousers follow suit. It's all the fault of Bendon for stopping making my favourite knickers. Except, a little research shows they have started again. That's a cheaper line of inquiry than $300 jeans.

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